How To Make Homemade Liqueur – Recipes and Video

A tasty new trend in specialty cocktails and unique gift giving is definitely homemade liqueur. You can find recipes just about anywhere that not only recreate your favorite brands you buy at the liquor store, but also new and fun flavors. Fill up a fancy bottle with your homemade elixir and you have yourself a great gift or even a creative contribution to a cocktail party you’ve been invited to. Below you will find some of our favorite recipes that we have made and LOVE (a huge thank you to the sourced sites!) To start off we have a funny video made by the Tipsy Bartender and their take on a Tequila Rose Liqueur. Enjoy!

Combine all ingredients in the pitcher of a blender. Blend until smooth. At this point it is ready to serve. To Store: Place in a clean tightly covered container and store for up to a month in the refrigerator.

Paula’s Gift Packaging Notes: I’m not a big drinker at all, but I do love a little of this Homemade Irish Creme Liqueur in my coffee as an after dinner treat. To give as a gift, I like to find old bottles while I am out junkin’. I clean and sanitize them and fill with my Homemade Irish Creme Liqueur. Sometimes I even find cute little cordial glasses to package with the liqueur.

Wash all the lemons using a brush and warm water to remove all the pesticides and dirt. After washing the lemons, dry them with a paper towel.

Remove the lemon peels with a potato peeler. Do not use a citrus zester. When peeling the lemons, try not to get any of the pith (the white stuff of the lemons). If you get some pith, scrape it off with a knife (Don’t scrape too hard. You don’t want to loose a lot of lemon zest.)

Author’s Note: Peeling the lemons and removing the pith could be time consuming, but with some experience, the process gets easier and faster. Trust me!

Place all the lemon peels in a glass jar and add the liter of grain alcohol. Let the peels and grain alcohol age for at least a month. I usually leave it for 6 weeks. Stir it once a week with a metal or wood spoon.

Don’t throw away the empty bottle of Everclear. You are going to use it to store the limoncello once it’s ready.

Author’s Note: Within the first day of aging, the grain alcohol is going start turning yellow.

After a month of aging, the liqueur is ready to be strained. Strain the liqueur with a strainer to remove all the lemon peels. Then filter it with a coffee filter to remove any small particles like pieces of pith.

Author’s Note: Notice how the alcohol turned to a dark yellow (more like an orange color) after a month of aging.

Make a simple syrup by boiling the water and adding the sugar. Stir constantly until all the sugar dissolves completely. Let the syrup cool down. Add the simple syrup to the filtered liqueur.

Author’s Note: As soon as you add the simple syrup to the liqueur, it is going to change color. It will go from a clear orange color to a bright cloudy yellow.

Get two empty and clean 1 liter bottles. Use a funnel to pour all the limoncello into the bottles. After bottling the limoncello, store one bottle in a cool place and store the other one in the freezer.

If you have room in your freezer, place both bottles of limoncello in there. Don’t worry, the limoncello is not going to freeze.

Limoncello is served chilled as an after dinner drink. It’s usually served in a small glass like a cordial glass. The glass is usually chilled as well.

Combine the vodka, brandy, tea bags and cinnamon sticks in a large glass jar. Cover and shake lightly so that the tea bags and cinnamon sticks are moistened. Store the jar in a cool, dark place for 3-5 days, until it smells of chai.

Photo coffeetea.about.com

Make the simple syrup (see below) at least an hour or so in advance of straining the liqueur, so it has time to cool.
Remove the tea bags and the cinnamon sticks. Do not squeeze the tea bags, or you’ll release the bitter tannins into the liqueur.
Stir in the simple syrup, starting with just a cup. Taste, and add more syrup as desired.

For the creamy simple syrup:
Mix the heavy cream and the sugar together in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat, stir in the sweetened condensed milk, and allow the syrup to cool completely before stirring it into the liqueur. Store the leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 2 or 3 weeks.